Christian Arts Groups?

I am part of a Christian arts group based in Wheaton, Illinois. All art forms. It is good for me to be around people whose art is different in style, focus and medii than mine. It helps keep me sharp and creative.

Tell me about yours.

Sharper still... As a writer, a critique group is helpful. A great way of iron sharpening iron.

I've recently started attending Word Weavers, a national Christian critique group. It is a subset of the Christian Writer's Guild, led by Jerry Jenkins. Jenkins, as you may know, had a long career writer before his amazing Left Beghind success. He is now passing on his knowledge.

See what it is all about.

http://www.wordweaversonline.com/

Also see: Are You in a Christian Artist Group?

High School Artists?

Masterpiece Ministries
http://masterpieceministries.org/

Based near Nashville, TN, a center of music nationally, with a great emphasis in arts in general, is Masterpiece Ministries.

Music. Film. Dance. Theater. Painting. Writing. Graphic Design.

The impact of the creative world on our culture is irrefutable. The arts stretch our imagination and know few boundaries. However, there exists a chasm of acceptance and understanding between the church and those wonderfully complex humans we call artists.

Gordon and Sherrie Rogers have worked with young people for over 35 years at church, in their own home, and through Sherries adolescent and family therapy. They discovered that young artists often do not fit in well with church-sponsored youth programs that emphasize physical recreation. To close the gap, they founded Masterpiece Ministries in 1995 with a mission to help young people identify and develop their gifts in the arts and to encourage them to become wholehearted followers of Jesus Christ.

Christian Art Show in Illinois - Lively Arts to Exhibit Their Work

Lively Arts will be doing an exhibit at La Spiaza. March 5 to April 5. Above is the official flyer designed by Tim Botts.

The artists will be available to discuss their works, including Lively Arts founder and calligrapher, Tim Botts, and Natalie Lombard, banner artist.

The exhibit features the works of Tim Botts, Scott Davis, Gary Lobdell, Natalie Lombard, Frank Nicholas, Kathy Schneider, Dan Stulz, and Colleen Yang.

The show's opening will include a spoken word performance by Anthony Trendl and guitar by Scott Davis. They will perform together "Love Song for Charlie Parker," an homage to the Beats, and other pieces.

La Spiaza Coffee House
114 N Main St
Wheaton, IL 60187
(630) 221-8772

Lively Arts is a gathering of Christian artists, meeting the fourth Monday of every month for show-n-tell, and to connect artists with the church and the community.

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

James 1:17, NIV

click image to see full size

LEAST: A CHANGE IN ME – Artists Impacted by Relationships with the Least

LEAST: A CHANGE IN ME – Artists Impacted by Relationships with the Least
October 23, 24 and 25, 2008 - West Chicago, IL
See Wheaton Academy's website for more.

Brochure

WHAT: A student festival of art honoring the LEAST
WHY: Relationships with the LEAST have transformed our hearts, minds, and lives.

“What you begin to learn is that giving and serving have little to do with what we have; they are expressions of who we are.”– Kori Hockett (Assistant Principal, Wheaton Academy)

“The LEAST have shown me what it looks like to rely on God completely. And frankly, they do a much better job of relying on God than I do.” – Erica Nellessen (Student, Wheaton College)

“We might possibly need the LEAST more than they need us so that we can learn that quality of life doesn’t come from material possessions – it comes from within and from what we care most about.” – Rae Thompson (Student, Wheaton College)

"Whether it is the financially poor or the poor in spirit, the LEAST have shown me to love at a simpler, in-the-moment kind of way.” – Matt Hockett (Video Teacher, Wheaton Academy)

"We all have seasons of life when we are the LEAST, and it could be a year later when the wounds that we have, which are still healing, are exactly what enable us to see and recognize them in someone else." – Quinn Riebock (Professor, Universidad Tecnica Particular de Loja)

“My faith is more like what Jesus longs it to be, I have found purpose and joy and significance I never had before, and I experienced community with my friends both here in Chicago and across the globe in Zambia that I had always wanted to find." – Chip Huber (Dean of Spiritual Life, Wheaton Academy)

“I have learned how easy and wrong it is to stick people in a box.” – Tom O’Connell (Student, Northwestern University)

"Interacting with the LEAST in Africa, I realized that all of our lives are connected. We need each other." – Mark Fernandes (Student, Wheaton Academy)

“I was reminded that regardless of distance, I share in the support and the caring of this Zambian community through prayer.” – Aimee Daniels (English Teacher, Wheaton Academy)

“The kingdom of God shows up in the weirdest places, amongst the people that seem least likely to inherit anything. And yet there it is, exploding through basketball sneakers and worn down jeans.” – Ryan Souders (Assistant General Manager, Cleveland City Stars)

“When working with the homeless, they forced me to listen, not just hear. They broke my heart and mended my heart.” – Josh Burick (History Teacher, Wheaton Academy)

“I see how the LEAST give the little they have to provide for my needs, knowing full well that I, more then they, am often the LEAST.” – Caroline Helmke (Student, Taylor University)

“Even though I was able to give her a few material things, she gave me a gift that could not have been bought – the joy that comes from having hope.” – David Petersons (Student, Houghton College)

“I stood there holding a little boy with a head enlarged and deformed; he had hydrocephalus. And through that moment, my soul would not stop thirsting to know the healing power of God's mighty hand.” – Susanna Frusti (Student, Bethel College)

“Working with a woman with Lou Gehrig’s disease at a nursing home, I saw greatness in the LEAST. All accomplishments and titles, riches and fame, forgotten…. but the lives she touched remained…and that made her great.” – Rachel Proch (Nursing Student)

“Those that the world has so tragically labeled “the LEAST” ironically have some of the most valuable and needed perspectives to make this world whole.” – Lauren Tomasik (Student, Wheaton College)

HOW: Step into this process.

Consider Micah 6:8.

“And what does the LORD require of you?

To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

Reflect on your relationships and community experience with the LEAST.

Respond to one of the following questions:

• How have the LEAST taught you to act justly in our world?
• How have you been impacted by the love and mercy you have received from the LEAST?
• How have the LEAST moved you to a life of humility?
• How has your view of God changed through time spent with the LEAST?
  

Create a piece of art that honors the LEAST:

• Theatre – one act, monologue
• Photography – one or a series of photographs
• Dance – choreographed narrative piece or otherwise
• Video – short film, public service announcement, music video, mini-documentary
• Visual Arts – painting, graphic design piece, drawing, sculpture,
• Music – instrumental, vocal
• Writing – poetry, short story, essay
• Other – art forms not mentioned above

WHEN: Submitted pieces must be received by October 6th, 2008

Festival will take place on October 23rd, 24th and 25th, 2008

For more information about the Wheaton Academy community response to poverty and AIDS, visit http://www.projectleast.org/

Are You in a Christian Artist Group?

Say what? A Christian artist group? You mean, like the St. Peter and Paul Painting and Pancake Club? Sure, why not? (for you adventurous sorts, here's a recipe for Hungarian pancakes).

Ours is called "Lively Arts." Not so much in the pancake department, but there are usually enough sweet snacks to overdo our blood sugar levels.

Essentially, we're a group of artists of all flavors gathering monthly. We are serious about doing our craft well, understanding the greater aspects of art, and integrating our art and our faith.

I'm a writer; my art is poetry. There are a few other writers. Mostly, though, we are visual artists. This includes painting, but also, we have stained glass window folks, photographers, a calligraphy expert, someone making those huge banners you see in churches, and many more.

We cover the gamut of denominations: I attend a Bible church, but we've got Pentecostals, Catholics, Anglicans, Presbyterians and others. The focus is on Jesus Christ, so if that's where the person's at, then great.

As Jim Croce once sang, "If you're walking my way, I'll walk with you." Croce's song otherwise doesn't relate, but I like it.

We'll talk about events in art, like a local gallery showing, discuss hard questions of faith/art (like symbolism and abstraction), pray, and show-and-tell. It isn't Sunday school, nor is meant to be. Rather, we're just trying to learn what it means to be an artist and a Christian without compromising either, with God always at the top.

Sometimes we do a hands-on project. While, as I mentioned, visual arts are not my thing, I could appreciate the glory of God in a deeper way after working on snowflake cutting (serious stuff here -- this isn't what you did in first grade with the dull scissors).

I learned, for example, the creative process Tim Botts followed when developing a large commissioned calligraphic design is much the same as what I follow when writing a 10-line poem for Decision Magazine. I heard that others deal with apathy, discontent and frustrations, and shared in the joy of seeing the published book of one of members.

Tell me about your group. Give me the low-down, with ideas and contact info (if it is an open group).